With Alaska's tame wildfire season all but over, Alaska firefighters are headed to the Lower 48 again to battle blazes there.
According to Alaska Public Radio Network, Alaska Fire Service spokesman Mel Slater said about 200 firefighters headed south this week. Both village and regional crews managed by the state, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service were involved.
Five Alaska-based firefighting aircraft, including both helicopters and planes, remain in the Lower 48 after being sent out of state last month.
This year's fire season has been uneventful in Alaska, with only 207,000 acres burned.
Last month, some 100 village-based emergency firefighters deployed from the communities of Shageluk, St. Michael, Koyuk, Selawik and Scammon Bay to fight fires in western states.